Fraser Valley residents will likely wake up to a messy Monday morning commute after a weekend snow dump blanketed parts of the region, particularly Chilliwack and areas eastward, in more than 30 centimetres of snow.
Environment Canada issued a snowfall advisory Sunday afternoon, warning of another five cm expected in the eastern Fraser Valley by Monday morning — adding to the snowy piles that had accumulated Sunday and already causing treacherous driving conditions on side streets and highways.
About 10 to 15 cm fell in Hope, 30 cm on the Hope slide along Highway 3, and about 25 cm in Agassiz in the Fraser Canyon.
Abbotsford, which was spared the Sunday snowfall that hit Chilliwack, was expected to get about 5 cm of snow overnight into Monday.
On Sunday morning, as Chilliwack residents woke up to a winter wonderland, officials advised drivers to stay off the roads unless necessary. Cars abandoned on the streets were a common sight, as city crews worked overtime to clear main roads.
Heavy snowfall also triggered a travel advisory for the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt on Sunday, after another 20 cm of snow fell.
Farther east, winter weather caused a temporary closure of Highway 1 between Field and Golden after a semi flipped over to its side and blocked the lanes.
Meanwhile in the Lower Mainland, two skiers had to hunker down for a cold night after going out of bounds on Cypress Mountain Sunday afternoon.
North Shore Rescue was alerted to the skiers’ plight around 3 p.m. and immediately launched a search.
Spokesman Mike Danks said the two male skiers were found deep in Tony Baker Gully, a steep and avalanche-prone area off the Cypress ski area at the top of a waterfall, but the rescue had to be called off due to the high risk of an avalanche.
“We are not able to put our members at risk to go out there into that area in the night under current conditions,” he said, adding that in addition to the avalanche danger, crews are unable to mount a helicopter rescue because of the darkness and low cloud level.
Rescuers had been able to get in touch with the stranded skiers despite spotty cellphone coverage, said Danks: “They did say they are safe. We reiterated that they should stay put and we will come in at first light.”
Crews planned to mount a long line rescue via helicopter on Monday morning.
Clear skies and sub-zero temperatures are in store for Metro Vancouver this week. An arctic front advancing towards the region will cause temperatures to drop in the coming days, with highs of 0 c and lows of -9 C forecast at Vancouver International Airport.
